I wish it were not necessary for a candidate to have to give a speech saying "I'm not a tool of my religious leaders". Indeed, I thought we had dispensed with such things nearly a half-century ago. But the reality of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith, especially in light of the increase in evangelical influence on the right, secularist political correctness on the left, and media coverage of fundamentalist Mormon cults practicing polygamy seems to require it, and so he will give The Speech later this week.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, striving to be the country's first Mormon president, will give a speech this week explaining his relatively unknown faith to voters, his campaign said Sunday.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, striving to be the country's first Mormon president, will give a speech this week explaining his relatively unknown faith to voters, his campaign said Sunday.

From where I sit, here is what Romney needs to do.

1) Romney needs to avoid spending much time on explicating the overall teachings of the LDS Church. They are irrelevant to the presidential race. In addition, this would serve to turn off many voters who would find some of the faith's distinctive teachings to be rather strange.

2) Romney does need to present the teachings of the LDS Church on religious liberty and political participation. They are, by any measure, distinctively American and supportive of the right of all members of that faith to participate in politics free of Church control. Pointing to individuals as different as Harry Reid and Orrin Hatch as examples would do a great job of showing that there is no coercion of Mormon elected officials.

3) Romney does need to show how the general ethos of his faith has influenced his personal and professional conduct. He must show that his being a man of faith has provided him with a moral and ethical compass that will serve him well as the leader of this country.

Mitt Romney is not responsible for 175 years of Mormon history. He is not responsible for former practices now repudiated by the LDS Church. What he is responsible for is showing that he is a man worthy of the trust of the American people to serve in our nation's highest elected office.